Shoe sole attaching means



April 21, 1964 H. HARDY 3,129,519

SHOE SOLE ATTACHING MEANS Filed March 20, 1961 IN V EN TOR. 178W H073; j 7 BY United States Patent 3,129,519 SHGE SGLE ATTACIfiNG MEANS Henry Hardy, Cambridge, Mass, assignor to International Vuicanizing Corporation, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Mar. 20, 1961, Ser. No. 96,869 3 Claims. (Cl. 36-14) This invention relates to shoes of the kind having a bottom formed of plasticizable material attached by molding.

It is the principal object of this invention to manufacture a dress shoe of the foregoing type and, in particular, womens shoes which require that the bottom shall have a feather edge as is characteristic of high quality leather shoes; and to provide a method and apparatus for making the same.

As herein illustrated, the shoe comprises an upper and bottom characterized in that the upper, at the shoulder, is bonded to the edge of the bottom below the plane of the upper surface thereof close to the plane of the tread surface, so that the exposed face of the bottom at the shoulder present a feather edge, the tread inwardly of the edge being of undiminished thickness. Preferably, the edge of the bottom has an upwardly and outwardly open groove or flange, the upper at the shoulder is bonded to the bottom of the groove, and that portion of the upper, inwardly of the shoulder, is embedded within the bottom inwardly of the wall of the groove or flange.

The apparatus comprises an open top mold and a last adapted to be held against the rim of the mold with an upper thereon for attachment of a bottom to the upper, characterized in that the bottom of the last contains a shallow recess, inwardly of the shoulder, which increases the effective depth of the mold cavity. Preferably, the bottom of the mold has a slightly concave surface corresponding to the contour of the tread surface of the bottom to be attached, so that the distance between the bottom of the mold and the bottom of the last at the shoulder is substantially less than the distance between the bottom of the mold and the recessed portion of the bottom of the last.

In accordance with the method, an upper is supported on a last having a shallow recess in its bottom, inwardly of its shoulder, and then a bottom-forming composition is applied to the entire bottom in such fashion as to cause it to bond to the bottom. In the preferred practice of the method, the upper is string-lasted and the string is disposed so as to be situated in the recess at the bottom of the last. If slip-lasting is employed, that portion of the lasted upper, inwardly of the lasted allowance, is disposed within the recess.

The invention will now be described in greated detail with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a vertical section transversely of the forepart of a shoe;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section taken medially of the forepart of a shoe;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section through a last disposed bottom up;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section through the last bottorn up;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the bottom of the last;

FIG. 6 is a vertical section of molding apparatus embodying the use of the last shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5; and

FIG. 7 is a vertical section transversely of the forepart of a slip-lasted upper with a bottom attached thereto, according to the method described herein.

In my Patent No. 2,878,523, there is shown a method and apparatus for attaching plasticizable bottoms to up- 3,129,519 Patented Apr. 21, 1964 pers. As therein disclosed, the upper is applied to the last, for example, by means of string-lasting, whereupon the lasted upper is placed bottom down against the rim of an open top mold comprised of laterally movable sides and a vertically movable bottom. The bottom is moved upwardly to press and shape the blank against the underside of the lasted upper and heat is supplied to vulcanize or fuse the blank to the upper. As shown in FIG. 9 of that patent the bottom is quite thick and the lasting margin and the string used for drawing the lasting margin against the bottom is embedded in its upper surface.

The foregoing method is perfectly satisfactory for shoes manufactured for casual wear and sportswear, however, it is'not adapted to making womens shoes and shoes for formal wear which require a feather edge, for when the bottom is made thin enough to provide the feather edge desired, the gathered portions of the lasting margin and the string employed for lasting are so nearly the same thickness as the bottom that they protrude through the bottom in places. Moreover, it is undesirable to make the bottom of the same overall thickness as the edge since such a bottom provides very little body and correspondingly little wear.

An object of this invention is to provide a shoe with a molded bottom having a feather edge and a relatively thick tread. To this end, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bottom 10 has at its marginal edge an upwardly and outwardly open groove or flange 12, providing thereby an outer feather edge 14 and inwardly thereof a thick tread 16. The upper 18 is attached to the bottom by bonding that portion 20 at the shoulder to the bottom side of the groove and by embedding the lasting allowance 22, including any lasting means employed to hold the margin to the last, embedded in the upper surface or body of the tread portion 16. In the preferred form, the upper is string-lasted and the string 24 is embedded in the tread portion 16 inwardly of the wall of the groove or flange 12. It is to be understood however that other kinds of lasting may be employed, for example the upper may be slip-lasted, in which case, the portion of the upper at the bottom, inwardly of the shoulder, is displaced upwardly and bonded to, or if it is of an open character, embedded in the upper surface of the tread portion 16. The tread portion 16 is thick enough so as not only to contain the lasting thread, but also pleated or gathered portions of the lasting margin and, in particular, those portions around the tip of the toe and the heel where such gathering is most pronounced (FIG. 2).

The shoe is made on a specially constructed last 26, shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 inclusive, in which the bottom 28 is machined, or otherwise operated upon to provide a shallow depression 30 inwardly of the shoulder 32, which is continuous all the way around the bottom. The depression or recess 30 is in the order of to of an inch and the shoulder has a width in the order of Ms of an inch.

The shoe is made, as shown in FIG. 6, by means of a conventional three-part mold having sides 3434 which may be moved into and out of engagement to form, on the one hand, a mold cavity 36 and, on the other hand, to separate them to permit removal of the finished shoe. A movable bottom 38 is disposed between the mold parts and is movable upwardly toward the bottom of the last 26 resting on the rim of the mold by suitable means such as disclosed in the aforesaid patent. The upper surface 40 of the bottom 38 is slightly concave, corresponding in this respect to the contour of the tread surface of the bottom to be attached, and its edges are tilted slightly upwardly so as to reduce the depth of the cavity between the bottom and the shoulder of the last at its edges.

In accordance with the method of manufacture, an

upper is lasted to the last 26, for example, by stringlasting, a sole blank is placed in the mold cavity 36, as shown in FIG. 6, the lasted upper is placed against the rim of the mold and then the bottom 33 is moved upwardly to press and form the blank against the lasting margin. A uniform pressure, with or without the aid of heat, is applied which plasticizes the blank, squeezing it into intimate contact with the lasting margin at the shoulders and forcing the material of the blank, intermediate the shoulders, inwardly into the depression so as to embed the lasting string at the inner marginal edges of the upper.

A slip-lasted upper, such as shown in FIG. 7, may have a bottom attached thereto in the same Way. If the insole is substantially impervious it will be displaced upwardly into the recess at the bottom of the last and will become bonded to the upper surface of the material of the bottom, however, if it is porous, or of an open character, it will become partially or wholly embedded in the bottom. In any event, the seam at the junction of the lasting margin and the insole will become embedded in the bottom as shown in FIG. 7.

While the method is particularly applicable for applying a bottom blank to the lasting margin of an upper by means of pressure and heat, as just described, it is within the scope of the invention to employ an injection mold wherein the bottom is fixed and a plasticized bottomforming composition injected through an opening in the bottom or through a wall of the mold beneath the last.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

' I claim:

1. A shoe comprising an upper and bottom element bonded thereto, said bottom element being comprised of a moldable composition of substantially uniform thickness, said bottom element having an integral marginal flange, the lower surface of which is a continuation of the lower surface of the bottom element, said flange having an-upper surface situated in a plane between the upper and lower surfaces of the bottom element, the peripheral edge of said flange forming a narrow featherlike face portion, and said upper extending downwardly to the upper surface of the flange and having a turned 4 in portion secured to said upper surface of the flange, leaving only the narrow feather-like face portion of the flange exposed, said turned in portion of the upper being situated below the upper surface of the bottom element.

2. A shoe as defined in claim 1 wherein said turned in portion of the upper has its terminal edge imbedded in the upper surface of the bottom element inwardly of the flange.

3. A shoe comprising an upper and bottom element bonded thereto, said bottom element being comprised of a moldable composition of substantially uniform thickness, said bottom element having an integral marginal flange, the lower surface of which is a continuation of the lower surface of the bottom element, said flange having an upper surface situated in a plane between the upper and lower surfaces of the bottom element, the peripheral edge of said flange forming a narrow feather-like face portion, and said upper element extending downwardly to the upper surface of the flange and having a turned in portion secured to the upper surface of the flange, leaving only the narrow feather-like face portion of the flange exposed, said turned in portion of the upper being below the upper surface of the bottom element, and an insole element secured at its edge to the edge of the turned in portion, said insole element overlying the upper surface of the bottom element and being bonded thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,135,546 Walker et al. Nov. 8, 1938 2,301,345 Tummillo Nov. 10, 1942 2,437,030 Hoza Mar. 2, 1948 2,580,245 Rollman et al. Dec. 25, 1951 2,694,871 Rollman Nov. 23, 1954 2,789,295 Rollman et al. Apr. 23, 1957 2,799,034 Crowell et al. July 16, 1957 2,907,068 Vdolek Oct. 6, 1959 2,973,553 Turner Mar. 7, 1961 2,976,624 Rollman Mar. 28, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,237,368 France June 20, 1960 811,654 Great Britain Apr. 8, 1959 831,191 Great Britain Mar. 23, 1960 

1. A SHOE COMPRISING AN UPPER AND BOTTOM ELEMENT BONDED THERETO, SAID BOTTOM ELEMENT BEING COMPRISED OF A MOLDABLE COMPOSITION OF SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM THICKNESS, SAID BOTTOM ELEMENT HAVING AN INTEGRAL MARGINAL FLANGE, THE LOWER SURFACE OF WHICH IS A CONTINUATION OF THE LOWER SURFACE OF THE BOTTOM ELEMENT, SAID FLANGE HAVING AN UPPER SURFACE SITUATED IN A PLANE BETWEEN THE UPPER AND LOWER SURFACES OF THE BOTTOM ELEMENT, THE PERIPHERAL EDGE OF SAID FLANGE FORMING A NARROW FEATHERLIKE FACE PORTION, AND SAID UPPER EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY TO THE UPPER SURFACE TO THE FLANGE AND HAVING A TURNED IN PORTION SECURED TO SAID UPPER SURFACE OF THE FLANGE, LEAVING ONLY THE NARROW FEATHER-LIKE FACE PORTION OF THE FLANGE EXPOSED, SAID TURNED IN PORTION OF THE UPPER BEING SITUATED BELOW THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE BOTTOM ELEMENT. 